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Please discuss the theme of friendship in The Merchant of Venice.

The theme of friendship is indeed strong in this play; specifically, the friendship between Bassanio and Antonio is significant because their relationship is the catalyst for many of the play's major plot points. It is Antonio's love for Bassanio that prompts him to offer Bassanio a loan to help him woo Portia. Antonio procures the money from Shylock, who in turn levies a strict penalty for late repayment. Portia sees Antonio's stress resulting from his friend's predicament, and vows to help him. It is Bassanio's capacity for friendship and loyalty that insures even greater love from Portia.


Antonio is also quite possibly in love with Bassanio, perhaps in a platonic way, but the text suggests deeper romantic feelings, as we see in this quote:



Commend me to your honourable wife:


Tell her the process of Antonio's end;


Say how I lov'd you; speak me fair in death;


And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.



There is every indication that the deep brotherly love between the two men may in fact have a latent homosexual context, at least from Antonio's perspective. But many productions of the play do not emphasize this theme. The more general theme of male bonding and loyalty is seen in Antonio's desire to convey his feelings to Bassanio in the event of his death. 

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